Monthly Archives: August 2011

Takemura in Arashiyama

Takemura

This hundred-year-old restaurant is smack dab in the middle of Arashimaya in Western Kyoto. Although we stayed at a Zen Temple, meals were not included as part of our lodgings. We were, however, able to sample a delicious vegetarian yudofu – boiled tofu – meal at Takemura.

We didn’t go into this blind; we found Takemura via one of my favourite Japan bloggers (Blue Lotus) and decided that we were definitely stopping by when we went to look at the beautiful bamboo groves.

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Sushi Kazu

Sushi Kazu Omakase

Sushi Kazu has got to be one of the more underrated sushi-yas in the tightly packed and well-curated commercial area that is the best part of my neighborhood in the Inner Sunset. Restaurants and shoppes are thickest between 6th and 10th on Irving, and in that radius there are no less than five sushi restaurants, and further down on Irving and 15th, there are exactly three Japanese restaurants (not necessarily sushi, though) located within one block. Continue reading

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Summer Vegetable Gratin

Veggies are good for you!

It’s that time of year. The time when farmer’s markets abound with a profusion of summer produce: eggplants and pattypan squash and green zucchini with their bright yellow cousins. Ears of corn call to be shucked and eaten raw, right off the cobb. An abundance of tomatoes and basil sends one rushing for the good olive oil and oozy burrata. Beautiful golden squash blossoms call out to be stuffed and fried… Even at work, one of my coworkers with a prolific garden brings in trayfuls of her extra produce, to be snatched up by the garden-slackers (i.e., me).

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Masala Dosa

Masala Dosa Interior

Along with a plethora Japanese restaurants, we also have a good number of Indian/ Pakistani eateries in my neighborhood. Curry Village’s arrival last year was the latest entry to the Inner Sunset, with stalwarts Naan ‘n Curry and Masala Indian Cuisine holding down in their location for many years. Masala Dosa replaced the Pakistani Tasty Curry on 9th that we never managed to visit; we had tried Curry Village once and found their dishes too sweet; Naan n’ Curry fell out of our favour in recent years.

But Masala Dosa seems like a great addition to our neighborhood, and our lunch there indicated that we’d be returning to it as our Indian place of choice in the future.

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Mar i Muntanya

From Ad Hoc at Home

I had received Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home a few months ago, a present from my best girlfriend in Chicago. But I hadn’t really attempted to cook anything from it until I was reminded by Sarah Gin’s post over on the Tastespotting blog that I owned it and tasty things could be made from it.

Mar i Mutanya is essentially a deconstructed paella, where all the components are cooked separately and brought together at the last minute. Unlike a traditional paella where the ingredients might be pre-sauteed and eventually put into the pan to cook with the rice, here, the chicken, seafood, vegetables and rice all have separate preparation and cooking procedures, and are eventually joined together as a finished dish at the end.

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Making Momofuku Ramen at home

My weekend project: Momofuku Ramen

DD and I visited New York in December of 2009. He was there for work, I was there to tag along, partially working remotely as well. We also turned the trip into a bar-hopping and salacious dining extravaganza. During our 5 days there, we managed to sample 3 of David Chang’s eateries: Momofuku Ssam Bar, Noodle Bar, and Milk Bar, though I have to admit that the visit to Milk Bar was just a cursory walk-through – we had been lunching at the Ssam Bar next door, and could not pass up a visit to peek at sweets. I don’t much recall what we had at Milk Bar if anything as I was too full from our decadent lunch.

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Japadog – Vancouver, Canada

Japadog Food Truck

We knew we were going to have very limited time in Vancouver. 3 full days, most of which would be taken up by family gatherings (Chinese Banquets, a wedding, a wedding-related cocktail and hors’d’ouevres afternoon)… DD had mapped out a strategy of how to make the most of our time in Vancouver/ Richmond, food-wise, and that was to target the best items or dishes that specifically typified “Vancouver” — that which we may not be able to get anywhere else. Needless to say, Japadog was in our sights.
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Honey Lavender Panna Cotta

Easier than Pie

I’ve probably mentioned this before – baking/ baked goods and desserts of all kinds get short shrift at our house. If given a choice between making something savory or something sweet, I almost always will choose the savory appetizer, entree, vegetable side dish, etc.

But of late I’ve been trying my hand at after-dinner treats more – DD’s sweet tooth demands it. So – to avoid the late night forays to Holy Gelato in our pyjamas, I’ve been making panna cotta. I didn’t realize how easy it could be until I tried making my first batch, using David Lebovitz’s recipe for a vanilla version here.

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Halu

Halu Skewers

In the dark, walking on the sidewalk towards the restaurant, it can be easy to miss Halu’s door, if not for the small bench outside, groups of folks milling about, the shoji screens covering up part of the windows, and the numerous items plastered on the door and windows – most are old concert flyers and menu pages, advertising the bill of fare; others are clearly warning notices – unless you’re truly, awfully oblivious – you’d see that Halu definitely does not serve any sushi in any form, nohow, nowhere. “No Sushi Today (or Tomorrow),” the signs proclaim; and “Sushi Free Zone” just for good measure.

Halu’s popularity a good sign that the lack of sushi is clearly not a problem. Continue reading

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Fatted Calf

Fatted Calf Storefront

I visited Fatted Calf on Fell Street this past weekend, primarily because I wanted, nay, needed to procure some of that wonderfully addictive bacon, they’re so known for – the bacon that Ad Hoc serves, the bacon that reportedly has turned some vegetarians into omnivores.
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